Ashview Farm’s Wayne Lyster and family savor the success of Runhappy, winner of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Sprint

By Glenye Cain Oakford / Photos by Kirk Schlea

36 SPRING 2016 K KEENELAND.COM sk the Lysters about a particular yearling on the family farm, and they can tell you not only the horse’s pedigree but also name who was present at its birth, describe every rise and dip in its pasture, and point to where the hay it ate this morning was baled. Back when smaller, family-run farms were more numerous in Athe Bluegrass, that wouldn’t have been so unusual. But in today’s Thoroughbred breeding industry, as many farms have embraced a more corporate style, Wayne and Muffy Lyster’s 350-acre Ashview Farm has found racing and auction success by keeping things more down-home, literally.

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Previous page, left to right, Gray Lyster, Bryan Lyster, Leon Hamilton with Bodemeister yearling filly, and Wayne Lyster at Keeneland’s January sale. Above, Runhappy’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint victory, which capped a championship season, has sentimental value for the Lysters due to ASHVEW FARM OF COURTESY their long association with Keeneland. Bryan Lyster says Runhappy, pictured right as a foal, was “outstanding” from the start.

The Lysters have lived on the farm since own children explore the same woods and Wayne, Gray, and Bryan Lyster, the Su- 1978, when they bought their first nine hayfields their parents roamed as kids. per Saver colt won last year’s Breeders’ acres, and raised their children at Ash- But Ashview is more than just a fami- Cup Sprint at Keeneland. And although view. Today, sons Bryan and Gray handle ly farm. It’s also made headlines on rac- Runhappy isn’t the first American cham- most of the farm’s daily operations with ing’s world stage, most recently with 2015 pion the Lysters have bred and raised at help from sister Meredith, and now their champion sprinter Runhappy. Bred by Ashview — Wayne Lyster and longtime partner Richard Santulli also bred 2001’s champion 2-year-old and Breeders’ Cup “And it’s not only that he did it. It’s where he did it. Juvenile winner, Johannesburg — Run- happy’s Breeders’ Cup victory at Keene- Our farm is only five-and-a-half miles from Keeneland. land struck a special chord for the Lyster We do most all of our business with and through Keeneland family because the colt is almost as much a Keeneland horse as he is a product of sales, and I have so many friends there and in Lexington. Ashview. The Lysters, consignors for years at To be able to do it right here? I still pinch myself.” Keeneland’s Thoroughbred auctions, sold Runhappy to current owner James Mc- – Wayne Lyster Ingvale at the 2013 Keeneland Septem-

38 SPRING 2016 K KEENELAND.COM ber yearling sale. And on the same day office with all those pedigrees,” they watched the 3-year-old Super Saver he said. “It’s not like today, colt flash past the Breeders’ Cup finish when you can just press a but- line (and set a six-furlong track record ton on a computer. There was of 1:08.58), the Lysters also were showing a lot more manual looking up a barn full of mares and weanlings on pedigrees and race records. I Keeneland’s sales grounds in preparation think it helped me spot the for the November breeding stock sale two trend of what the consumer days later. wanted. I always wanted to “And it’s not only that he did it,” Wayne give the consumer what they Lyster said of Runhappy. “It’s where he did wanted with what I could af- it. Our farm is only five-and-a-half miles ford to do. Would I have liked from Keeneland. We do most all of our to have bred the best-pedi-

business with and through Keeneland SKIP DICKSTEIN greed mares to the best stal- sales, and I have so many friends there Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Johannesburg lions in the world? Of course, and in Lexington. To be able to do it right represents the first American champion bred and but I couldn’t afford it. So I raised at Ashview. here? I still pinch myself.” grew the business by investing Lyster, who was born in Philadelphia back into it all the time. It took but moved to Bourbon County as a teen- Lyster’s dream of Thoroughbred breed- a long time before we bred Johannesburg ager, was a newlywed bloodstock agent ing grew as the farm and his family did, and Runhappy, but we’re really pleased back in 1978 when he spotted an ad in and little by little Ashview expanded as he with the results. It’s been a lifetime of get- the Lexington Herald newspaper for nine put earnings back into the farm and into ting to this point, and now my sons run acres and a farmhouse east of Versailles, upgrading his bloodstock. the farm, and our involvement together is Kentucky. Located between Lexington and “I learned a lot being in the bloodstock great.” Versailles, it was perfectly situated: The Lysters could enjoy family life in the coun- try and be within easy hauling distance of the Thoroughbred world’s marketplace at Keeneland. For Wayne, who had grown up on a farm, it was a return to a lifestyle he treasured as well as a new beginning as a hands-on Thoroughbred breeder and farmer. The property also had an unusual historic landmark: It houses the tomb of General Marquis Calmes, the Virgin- ia-born son of Huguenots who helped lay out Versailles and gave the town its name (if not its surprising pronunciation of Ver- SALES, rather than the French Vair-SIGH). Calmes, who purchased the acreage in 1775, returned there to farm after fighting in the Revolutionary War. He is buried with his wife, Priscilla, in the house-shaped stone tomb that sits in one of Ashview’s Wayne Lyster purchased the core of the property in 1978. Today, Ashview is home to 40-50 paddocks. broodmares.

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Ashview’s first big success came with the broodmare Knit- ted Gloves. Lyster came across the 19-year-old mare at the 1989 “It’s not all Runhappy. Sometimes something Keeneland November breeding stock sale and paid just $9,000 for her. happens to a horse or you have tractor “I bought a share in Seeking the Gold and bred her to him,” said Lyster, 68. The resulting filly was At the Half, who blossomed into problems or whatever. But we’ve grown a grade II winner before Ashview sold her for $950,000 at the 1996 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. But they kept her year- together with the farm, and it’s made ling, the A.P. Indy filly Lu Ravi, who went on to become an eight- time stakes winner and earn more than $1.8 million after Lyster everybody stronger.” sold her privately to Japanese horseman Yoshio Fujita. – Wayne Lyster Ashview had made it into the limelight, thanks to a $9,000 broodmare, careful choices of stallions, and a willingness to stay in for the long haul. (Ashview was leading consignor by average (three or more sold) at the 1989 and 1995 July selected yearling sales.) otherwise.” So beautiful, in fact, that Lyster wanted to breed Myth But, as Lyster is quick to note, horse farming isn’t all winner’s back to Hennessy. He consulted several veterinarians who as- circles, big paychecks, and champions. There’s hard work and sured him the “parrot mouth” issue was unlikely to happen again, bad luck, too. At the 1997 Keeneland November sale Lyster paid and then he took the plunge. Myth’s second appointment with $350,000 for a broodmare named Myth, in foal to the well-regard- Hennessy resulted in Johannesburg. ed young stallion Hennessy. But when the foal was born, he had “It’s not all Runhappy,” Lyster said. “Sometimes something hap- an overbite so severe that he couldn’t nurse, and he ultimately pens to a horse or you have tractor problems or whatever. But was put down. we’ve grown together with the farm, and it’s made everybody “It was unfortunate,” Lyster recalled. “He was a beautiful foal stronger.” There were plenty of character-building les- sons at the Ashview school of farming, sons Bry- an and Gray agree. But, for the most part, what they remember about growing up at Ashview was the freedom to explore, learn, and interact with horses — both in and out of the saddle. And it wasn’t just about horses. The boys also raised rab- bits, ducks, and pigs, showed black Angus steers, and worked the family’s tobacco fields in addition to helping raise foals and show yearlings at the sales. The farm is dedicated solely to horses now, though the Lysters do still grow their own hay and bedding straw, but the boys are glad to have had wider exposure to crop and livestock farming. “The older I get, the more I appreciate how we grew up,” said Bryan, 33. “There’s a lot of fresh air, and you’re learning things from people that are working hard physically six days a week, when it’s cold and when it’s hot. It’s hard work and long days, and you also learn about freedom and Wayne, Gray, and Bryan Lyster review their consignment at the 2016 Keeneland responsibility.” January horses of all ages sale. “Our babysitters were the guys on the farm,”

40 SPRING 2016 K KEENELAND.COM added Gray, 35. “In the summers, as soon as we were big enough to hold a weed-eater, we were weed-eating on the farm. We didn’t start off as grooms; we started off on maintenance: throwing hay, weed-eating, that stuff. The fortunate thing about it is that now that we’re in management, we’ve done it all. I know how long it takes to weed-eat that fence. When you’re walking for three straight hours on a really hot August morning to prep your yearlings and you’re behind on other work, I know how hard that is. And little things, like the proper way to do things, attention to detail.” Now married and with a new generation un- derway, it’s still what Bryan and Gray do, only now they’ve traded maintenance duty for man- agement decisions, including what mares to ac- quire for the Ashview breeding program. The res- Muffy and Wayne Lyster ensured that farm life ident broodmare band remains fairly small and instilled an appreciation for hard work and select, with about 40-50 mares on the property discipline in their children. for breeding season.

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“I like our size,” said Bryan, “because and we thought she was worth $25,000. We sale. By the end of 2015, he had earned it allows us to literally put our hands on liked her pedigree, and we claimed her. Ini- $1,481,300 and taken everyone, includ- the horses. We foaled a mare this morn- tially, we bought her because we thought ing the Lyster family, on a dream ride to ing at 5:50 a.m. with our farm manager, we could make a few dollars selling her. the top of the sport. Within three days at and since then we’ve had our hands on But when we got her to the farm, we all Keeneland, the Lysters went from hav- every single yearling on the farm and ev- thought, ‘Why would we sell this one? ing their picture taken with Runhappy in ery maiden and barren mare getting ready These are the kinds that we should keep.’ the Breeders’ Cup winner’s circle to sell- for the breeding season, and on any mare It’s a good pedigree, and we liked her so ing Bella Jolie, in foal to Cairo Prince, for that’s within 30 days of foaling. We truly much physically.” $1.6 million at the Keeneland November have our fingers on the pulse of what’s go- Runhappy immediately justified the sale — where Runhappy’s groom, Cordell ing on, daily.” Lysters’ decision to keep Bella Jolie. Anderson, led her through the auction Runhappy’s dam, Bella Jolie, joined the “He was outstanding from day one,” ring. band in 2010, when Gray and Bryan first said Bryan. “He was one of our nicer foals, “It took a while to sink in,” Bryan said spotted her in a claiming race. and all the way through he just kept get- of Runhappy’s win in the Breeders’ Cup “We’re value shoppers: We try to buy for ting better.” and his election to championship status. a nickel and sell for a dime so we can buy The Lysters sold Runhappy to McIng­ “I think it’s still sinking in. more, so we can pay our guys,” explained vale for $200,000, or 40 times his dam’s “We had the mare, who was on the sale Gray. “She was in for a $5,000 claiming tag, claiming price, at the 2013 September grounds in Barn 15 at the very moment her first foal is about to run for champion sprinter — we knew the difference in her “The older I get, the more I appreciate how we grew up.” value if he wins versus if he finishes any- where else on the board. And the fact that – Bryan Lyster it was all at Keeneland was very powerful. It’s truly our home track.” Added Gray, “I don’t know how many times when there’s been a lull in the con- versation and Dad will say, ‘Gray, do you realize what we did?’ “I’ve told people, ‘Maybe I should just get out now, because I don’t think it can ever get any better than this.’ ” “I think about it every day, about how special it is,” Wayne Lyster acknowledged. “I know a lot of very good breeders out there who haven’t bred a Breeders’ Cup winner, and I hope they do, because the feeling is so good. “To be able to breed Runhappy and be able to do that in partnership with my sons, it’s like I’ve come full circle. To breed a Breeders’ Cup winner first with a client, friend, and partner that backed me from day one and then to do it with my sons for a second Breeders’ Cup winner? It’s Ashview Farm is now providing a nurturing environment for the third generation of the not even describable. That’s how good it Lyster family. feels.” KM

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